South Korean rescue workers search burned-out factory after fire killed 22 people, most of them Chinese migrants

SEOUL, South Korea – Rescue workers searched the charred ruins of a factory building near the South Korean capital for more fire victims on Tuesday, a day after a devastating blaze believed to have been started by exploding lithium batteries killed 22 people, most of them Chinese migrant workers.

More than 100 people were working at the factory in the city of Hwaseong, south of Seoul, when the fire broke out on Monday morning. Surveillance cameras showed smoke enveloping the work area on the factory’s second floor shortly after sparks were detected from a lithium battery storage area, fire officials said.

One victim was pronounced dead in hospital and firefighters recovered 21 bodies from the factory one after another on Monday evening. Eighteen of the victims were Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian. The nationality of one of the dead was still being verified.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992, many Chinese, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea in search of work. Like other migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries, they often work in factories, construction sites and restaurants, performing what are known as “difficult, dangerous and dirty” jobs that are shunned by wealthier South Koreans.

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming visited the factory site on Monday evening and reportedly expressed his condolences to the victims. According to the fire department, police took DNA samples from the bodies and their possible relatives to confirm their family relationships.

One factory worker is still unreachable, but his cell phone signal was tracked in the building on Monday afternoon. Eight workers were injured, two of them in serious condition.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol also visited the factory site on Monday. He expressed his condolences to the dead and called on authorities to take measures to effectively combat battery fires, Yoon’s office said.

On Tuesday, more than 50 firefighters, assisted by two rescue dogs and other equipment, were mobilized to continue searching the burned-out factory, local fire official Kim Jin-young said in a televised news conference. He said partial remains had been discovered but it was not immediately clear whether they belonged to the missing person.

Kim said a separate team of firefighters, police and other experts would examine the site later on Tuesday to determine the exact cause of the fire. Labor Ministry officials said the government would separately investigate whether there were any safety issues with the fire. The factory belongs to battery maker Aricell.

Most of the workers who died were day laborers and therefore probably were not familiar with the building’s internal structure, fire chief Jo Seon-ho told reporters on Monday. He said video from the fire scene showed that they rushed to an area with no exit after failing to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers. He said the victims probably inhaled toxic smoke.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in consumer products from laptops to cell phones. If damaged, defective or improperly packaged, they can overheat, which can lead to fires and explosions and makes them a hazard for transport on board aircraft.

Monday’s fire is one of the deadliest in South Korea in recent years.

In 2020, a fire at a warehouse under construction in Icheon, south of Seoul, killed 38 construction workers. In 2018, 46 people died when a fire broke out at a small hospital without a sprinkler system in the southern city of Miryang. In 2008, 40 workers, including 12 ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, died when a fire and accompanying explosions ravaged a cold storage warehouse in Icheon.

South Korea has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change the widespread attitude that safety is secondary to economic progress and convenience.